Pivoted crushing plier



May 30, 1961 w. J. RozMUs Y PIvoTED cRUsHING PLIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 17, 1959 JNVENToR. 6 WALTER J. ROZMUS IIIII ATTORNEYS May 30, 1961 w. J. RozMUs 2,986,346

PIVOTED CRUSHING PLIER Filed June 17. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY/yl Arianex/s ys United States Patent O PIV OTED CRUSHING PLIER Walter J. Rozmus, 29- Ashwood Ave., Whitesboro, N.Y.

Filed June 17, 1959, Ser. No. 821,006

4 Claims. (Cl. 241-169) This invention relates to plier devices and more particularly to nut and ice crackers.

Simplicity and ease of assembly, especially of the hinge, is a very desirable feature in a pivoted crushingtype plier. Because of the very heavy pressures sometimes required, such as when used to crack the shells of nuts or to crack ice, it is necessary that these pliers be able to withstand extreme pressures. It is also desirable to have the jaws guided in their travel to prevent twisting of the jaws and slipping of the object to be cracked or crushed. Again, simplicity of construction is an important economic factor.

One principal object of this invention is to provide a pivot interconnection between two stamped sheet metal plier-handles, which pivot interconnection is composed only of integral portions of the members, and which will permit the members to be easily interiitted but resist separation thereafter.

Another principal object of this invention is to provide a guide and stop arrangement of a pivoted plier construe-r` tion, which will guide and hold the plier handles in a common plane of movement, and will provide limits of relative swing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and novel pivot crushing type plier device of rugged construction capable of withstanding the great pressures necessary.

. Another object of this invention is to provide a new and novel hinge structure particularly adapted for use in a crushing type plier device which is sturdy and inherently capable of being quickly and easily assembled. v A related object of this invention is to provide a crushing type plier device with a hinge portion having `two pairs of interleaved, self interlocking hinge plates.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a plier device having a hinge comprising stacked plates having alternately apertures and shoulders, the shoulders being easily intertted in the apertures, and resistant to removal from the apertures. j Still a further object of this invention is to provide a crushing type plier device having guide stop means which will limit the travel of the levers in both an open and closed position. A, A further object of this invention'is to provide a device' with opposed guide stop, members, and.. having a shouldered bar tting in shouldered channel portions to guide and limit the swing of a device.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a guide vmechanism for swingable levers having a guide bar fitting in channel portions and the guide bar having a shoulder that will abut another shoulder to limit the lever travel in an open position, and abutting portions to limit the lever travel in a closed position.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a ydevice made in accordance with the foregoing objects and specifications.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the inven- ./tion may be had be referring to the following descrip- Pafented May 30, 19,61

ice

tion and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a nut and ice cracker embodying the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l with the jaws in a closed relative position;

Figure 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section, partially broken away, taken' along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end view of the pivot area of the two lever members in a separated position prior to assembly, but viewed from an end location as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a section through the assembled pivot area as taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the pivot' area of two lever members in a separated position prior to assembly; and,

Figure 8 is an elevation view of the pivot end of onelever.

Referring to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the device n the form of a cracking tool, is indicated' by reference character 10. First and second swingable levers 11 and 12 are provided, the device having an open position wherein the levers are relatively widely spaced,. and a closed position wherein the levers are relatively closely spaced. The lever 11 has a pivot end 13, a handle end 15, and a jaw portion 17, the lever 12 has a pivot end 14, a handle end 16, and a jaw portion 18. The tool 10 has a plane of symmetry extending throughA the pivot ends 13 and 14 and between the two levers 11 and 12. First lever 11 has a hinge portion composed of first and second pivot plates 22 and 23. The second lever 12 has third and fourth pivot plates 24 and 25'. The pivot plates 22, 23, 24, .25 are in a stacked configuration in an area designated as `being portion 21 of' the tool 10.

The rst pivot plate 22 has a projection-defining raised shoulder 26 of generally yfrusto-cylindrical shape. The second pivot plate 23 has a shoulder-receiving aperture 28 of generally cylindrical shape. The third pivot plate- 24 has a projection-defining raised shoulder 27 of gen# erally frusto-cylindrical shape. The fourth pivot plate 25 has a shoulder-receiving aperture 29 of generally cylindrical shape. The shoulders 26 and '27 and the apertures 28 and 29. are all aligned with each other. The raised shoulder 26 of the first plate 22 is interiitted in the fourth plate aperture 29, and the raised shoulder 27 of the third plate 24 is interfitted with the aperture 23 of the second plate 23. The frusto-cylindrical shapes of each of the raised shoulders 26 and 27 slope up in a direction away from the plane of symmetry. Because of the configurations and direction of slope of these shoulders, it is relatively easy to snap the hinge portion 21 into the stacked configuration and rnake the hinge operaf tive, but it is diiiicult to remove the hinge, portion 21 from the stacked configuration since the shoulders 26 and 27 `will abut a portion of the apertures 28 and 29 and resist pulling apart. This hinge portion permitsrthe first and second levers 11 and 12 to swing relative to each other. It is readily observable that there is no aperture extending completely through the hinge portion 21, nor is there a separate pin running through the hinge portion 21. The hinging is accomplished completely by the two members to be hinged in a novel and eifective manner.

Referring particularly to Figures l and 3, a guide stop means 31 is provided. The structural detail of guide stop 31 is best seen in Figure 3. The guide stop means 31 has a rst guide member 32 which serves as a guide and as a contact stop portion; a second member guide 33 which serves as a guide and as a contact stop portion;

3 and a bar 4.5. which acts beth, as a limit S192 and. a guide.- Thc first guide member 32 has a first extension 36 anda second extension 37 defining a first channel 34. The second guide member 33 has a third extension 38 and a fourth extension 39 defining a second channel 35.7 The first member 32 has a shoulder 40 and the second member 33 has a shoulder 41. The first member 3,2 is positioned, between the Ihandle end and the jaw portion 17 of the first lever 11, andthe second member 33 is positioned between the handle end 16 and the jaw portion 18 of the second lever 12. The first extension 36 is posisioned to abut the third extension 38, and the second extension 37 is positioned to abut the fourthl extension 39, when the device is inthe closed position.

The guide stop bar 45 has a first end 48 and a second end 49. A first shoulder 46 is provided at thefirst bar end 48 and a second shoulder 47 is provided at the second bar end 49. The guide stop 'bar 45 is positioned so that the bar first end 48 is in the first channel 34, and the bar second end 49 is in the second channel 3 5. The first and second bar shoulders 46 and 47 are so positioned that they will abut the first and second shoulders 40 and 41 respectively when the device is in the open position and thus limit the relativity of the levers 11 and A coil spring 50 is provided which encompasses a portion of the first guide member 32, a portion of the second guide member 33, and a portion of a guide stop bar 45. The coil spring 50 acts to urge the device into the open position. This new and novel construction of the stop guide means 31 prevents the first and second levers 11 and 12 from twisting relative to each other and confines their relative swing to a single plane. The guide stop means 31 also limits the relative swing of the first and second levers 11 and 12 in both an open and closed position. The relative simplicity of the construction of the stop guide means 31 permits easy and rapid assembly.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the Yscope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a plier device having first and second swingable levers the improvement which comprises, first and second spaced pivot plates carried by said first lever, third and fourth spaced pivot plates carried by said second lever, said plates being in stacked configuration, said first plate being positioned between said third and fourth plates, said third plate being positioned between said first and second plates, said first and third plates having similar raised shoulders, said shoulders being aligned with each other, said second and fourth plates having similar shoulder receiving apertures, said apertures being aligned with each other and with said shoulders, each of said shoulders being shaped to interfit in one of said apertures, said shoulder of said first plate being interfitted in said aperture of said fourth plate, and said shoulder of said 4 third plate being intertted in said aperture of said secoalt.;

2. In a plier device having first and second swingable levers, each lever having a pivot end, a handle end, an outer edge, an inner edge, and a jaw portion therebetween along the inner edge, the improvement which comprises, first and second spaced pivot plates carried by said first lever, third and fourth spaced pivot plates carried by said second lever, said plates being in stacked configuration, said first plate having a raised tab extending in a direction away from said second plate, said tab having a top surface sloping from the surface of the plate, a shoulder surface vof crescent form surrounding said tab, said shoulder being of maximum height at a position opposite the junction of said tab top surface to said plate, said second plate having a tab receiving aperture aligned with said tab of said first plate, said third plate having a raised tab virtually identical to said tab of said first plate and extending in a direction away from said fourth plate, said fourth plate having a tab receiving aperture virtually identical to the aperture of said second plate and aligned with said tab of said third plate, said first plate being positioned between said third and fourth plates, said third plate being positioned between said first and second plates, said tab of said first plate being interfitted in said aperture of said fourth plate, said'shoulder of said third plate being interfitted in said aperture of said second plate, said plier device having a plane of symmetry extending through said pivot, said tab maximum height directed away from said plane of symmetry to thereby provide a reaction surface serving as a pivot bearing.

3. In the device of claim 2, the shoulders of said first and third plates being generally a truncated cylinder and the shoulder receiving apertures of said second and fourth plates being cylindrically shaped.

4. A plier device, comprising, first and second levers, each lever having a handle end, said first lever having a pivot end including a pair of spaced and substantiallyI parallel pivot plates, said second lever having a pivot end including a pair of spaced and substantially parallel pivot plates, one of the plates of said first lever being located 4between the plates of the second lever, and one of the plates of the second lever being located between the plates of the first lever, said plates .thereby being interleaved ina stacked configuration, two of said plates having tab receiving apertures, the other two of `said plates each ,having a tab extending into one of said apertures, each tab having a shoulder substantially normal to its plate and a sloping face, each shoulder vbeing positioned to abut the surface of the tab receiving aperturei'n' which it extends to provide a reaction surface to resist separation of the levers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES `PATENTS 1,162,141 De Arment Nov. 30, 1915 t 1,267,133 Smith May 21, 1918 2,885,781 Bauer 1 May `12, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS p 41,449 Sweden Oct. 11, 1916 769,670 France June .11, 1934 

